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Just out of curiosity. Where did you find this alleged verb of graffiti? "streichen" might be some translation of "to paint". Anyway, I'm for "sprayen". It's a spray, so what you do with it, might be "sprayen". A little bit more old-fashioned might be "malen". At the very least I would understand somebody saying that he is a "Graffiti malen".
– TrilarionFeb 16 '19 at 13:26

The term used within the scene is supposedly "taggen".
– Kilian FothFeb 16 '19 at 20:49

I think schmieren or Schmiererei has a certain difference in meaning when compared to Graffiti: The former generally refers to graffiti in arguably illegitimate places, as it is often seen in public space, whereas the latter can also mean the graphics style often used for graffiti as such.
– O. R. MapperFeb 16 '19 at 11:06

@O.R.Mapper Not wrong, but depends pretty much on demographic.Some can't see anything but Schmierereien regardless of painting surface. That is: even a framed and unshredded Banksy is a Schmiererei to them.
– LаngLаngСFeb 16 '19 at 11:14

There are always some people who do not like or find no "access" to a given work. They may call Rembrandt's works "Schmierereien" and Goethe's works "Gefasel". Yet, I wouldn't list these words as possible translations for "painting" and "literature", respectively, "depending on the demographic". "Schmiererei" for "graffiti", on the other hand, is a somewhat legitimate (if derogatory) translation specifically in the context of graffiti being placed illegitimately.
– O. R. MapperFeb 16 '19 at 11:39

-1 because Schmierereien is only the very negative connotation of a word which is not necessarily bad
– äüöFeb 19 '19 at 7:42

Fat agreement. Maybe I'll add a disclaimer: "AH, but please, mh'äüöhm, well, it's prolly like, uh, dangerous and lowering your IQ by at least -1, because, so y'all should have forgotten better already the very unwanted word of Schmierereien even exists, hmhm, yesyes, or might be used, as there is önly öne cörrect word in each and every case, anyway, this is BIG, so listen: this is only the very negative connotation of a word which is not necessarily bad."
– LаngLаngСFeb 19 '19 at 9:21